Susan K. Patrick

Overselling the Mississippi Miracle Southern poverty is a policy choice

The 'Southern Surge' states remain the absolute worst places for kids. I wrote about what all the Mississippi takes keep missing educationwars.substack.com/p/oversellin...

AI and The Ownership of Teacher Work How AI is being used to support teachers’ work across assessment, curriculum, and pedagogy.

Recently, I took a page from @anildash.com and thought about the ways teachers use AI for their work but skeptical about whether students should use it.

I listened to educators in various contexts for this one.

Thoughts? Let me know.

www.newamerica.org/education-po...

Minnesota teachers sue to keep ICE off school property Two school districts and a teachers union allege that the immigration crackdown has spilled onto campuses and interrupted the functioning of schools across the state.

Two Minnesota school districts and a teachers union asked a judge to order federal officers to stay away from schools, alleging that the nation’s largest immigration operation has spilled onto campuses, affecting attendance statewide, according to a lawsuit.

The Education Department's efforts to fire staff cost over $28 million, watchdog says A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office calculates the cost of efforts to fire civil rights staff, and questions the department's ability to enforce federal civil rights laws.

The Education Department's efforts to fire staff cost over $28 million, watchdog says www.npr.org/2026/02/02/n...

Fear, arrests and know-your-rights: How one school district is grappling with ICE coming to town NEW HAVEN, Conn. — “They took her, they took her, they took her.” Those were some of the words Assistant Principal Cora Muñoz could discern while on the phone with the guardian of one of her students. As the caller sobbed and struggled to speak, Muñoz realized that immigration enforcement agents had detained a kid from Wilbur Cross, the high school she helps lead. Again. There was a reason why Muñoz was a go-to contact for the student and her guardian: She — and New Haven public schools more broadly — have worked hard to earn the trust of immigrant families in their diverse district, even as the second Trump administration has made it easier for immigration officers to enter schools and launched a mass deportation campaign.

Fear, arrests and know-your-rights: How one school district is grappling with ICE coming to town

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — “They took her, they took her, they took her.” Those were some of the words Assistant Principal Cora Muñoz could discern while on the phone with the guardian of one of her students.…

Kids, staff, parents detained: How federal activity in Minnesota is affecting schools and students The recent surge in federal law enforcement activity is increasingly affecting school children across the state. Some schools are offering online learning to students to afraid to go to school, while ...

VERY comprehensive @mprnews.org @eshockmanwrites.bsky.social roundup of how the surge of federal agents in MN is impacting schools, students and educators. Numerous reports of children detained by masked agents.

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Really helpful analysis confirming K-12 educators are biggest beneficiaries of PSLF with average forgiveness of **$70,000** (!!!). Changes in federal loan policies/accessibility have huge impacts for teaching candidates and teachers.

"In another filing with the Office of Management and Budget, the administration disclosed that none of the five remaining career Education Department officials with statistical experience had reviewed the proposal, including Matt Soldner, the acting commissioner of [NCES]."

"As educators in this community, our roles have shifted. We are no longer solely facilitators of curriculum and school support; we are gatekeepers of safety and a primary source of emotional support."

Minneapolis schools offer remote learning as tensions rise over federal immigration enforcement The Minneapolis school system will offer families the option of remote learning for a month. Officials made the announcement Friday in response to concerns that children might feel unsafe venturing ou...

Two truths:

1) this is a sensible way to keep children and families safe from ICE

2) remote learning harms the most vulnerable children

apnews.com/article/immi...

Nearly 21,000 Charlotte-Mecklenburg students absent from school on Monday, officials say Officials did not make it clear if the absences were connected to the on-going immigration operation in the city.

Over 20,000 students stayed home from school Monday in Charlotte amid ICE raids, representing 15% of enrollment

The district is nearly one-third Hispanic, per WBTV

www.wbtv.com/2025/11/18/n...

Most K-12 Programs Will Leave Education Department in Latest Downsizing The Trump administration announced six agreements to transfer Ed. Dept. programs elsewhere.

A Trump administration official said Tuesday that today's changes at the U.S. Department of Education are part of a decades-long conservative goal of eliminating the agency.

Latest on changes, by @beeschultz3.bsky.social, @caitlynnpeetz.bsky.social, and me: www.edweek.org/policy-polit...

Nice summary of our paper and related work by @tomdee.bsky.social and @kslungaardmumma.bsky.social here.

www.chalkbeat.org/2025/11/10/i...

How to explain ICE and the national guard in DC to kids We asked experts how to discuss ICE, the national guard deployment, and the current political moment with kids.

With the national guard now possibly in D.C. through next summer and immigration detentions continuing to tick up, local parents say they’re struggling to explain this moment to their children.

We asked a few experts — including @profmbj.bsky.social — for guidance:

How Uncertified Teachers Went From a Stopgap to an Escalating Crisis Using uncertified teachers to fill shortages may further destabilize the educator pipeline.

How Uncertified Teachers Went From a Stopgap to an Escalating Crisis: Using uncertified teachers to fill shortages may further destabilize the educator pipeline.

Parents, advocates alarmed as Trump leverages shutdown to gut special education department Two months after Education Secretary Linda McMahon was confirmed, she and a small team from the department met with leadership from the National Center for Learning Disabilities, an advocacy group tha...

The Education Department is close to functionally disappearing. I didn't think this could happen, and I was wrong, wrong, wrong. Here's a piece I wrote on how the hollowing out is affecting special education:

hechingerreport.org/parents-advo...

Education Department Layoffs Would Affect Dozens of Programs. See Which Ones Entire teams that work on key funding streams may not return to work even when the shutdown ends.

New: More than $50 billion (yes, with a b) for education is in jeopardy if the Education Department eventually proceeds with the layoffs it implemented last Friday. A federal judge put them on hold as of Wednesday.

Here's a list of the affected funding streams: www.edweek.org/policy-polit...

Special education isn't a "nice thing to have." It isn't "charity" or doing something to make us feel better. It is a right. The right to a Free Appropriate Public Education is codified in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, signed by a Republican president.

U.S. Department of Education fired nearly everyone in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in a wave of new layoffs that began Friday, according to the union representing the agency's employees. www.usatoday.com/story/news/e...

Actually, Slavery Was Very Bad The president’s latest criticism of museums is a thinly veiled attempt to erase Black history.

I debated writing this. It can feel tempting, upon encountering yet another instance of this administration’s racism, to let it be. How many ways can you say the same thing over and over again? And yet we have to write it down, if for nothing else, so those who come after us know we were against it.

This was heartrending. Not just a personal and professional tragedy, but a scientific and statistical tragedy.

Dr. Carr's unceremonious firing and ongoing unrecoverable loss to data access and quality represent symbolic and literal damage to democratic leadership and governance.

Trump Tells States He's Holding Back $6.8 Billion for Schools Schools nationwide won't see funding earmarked for English learners, migrant students, professional development, and more.

More bad news for public education, including DC public schools. www.edweek.org/policy-polit...

States Face Uncertainty as an Estimated $6.2 Billion in K–12 Funding Remains Unreleased: Here’s the Fiscal Impact by State States face uncertainty as $4.8 billion in K–12 federal funding remains unreleased. If the U.S. Department of Education doesn’t distribute these funds by July 1, state educational agencies will need p...

learningpolicyinstitute.org/blog/states-...
From the Learning Policy Institute, showing the impact of the administration's reckless decision to withhold billions of critical education dollars. Vermont and DC are set to see over 20% of their federal school funding yanked. Over 10% in every state.

Immigration Raids Add to Absence Crisis for Schools

The current wave of federal immigration raids began in January with a “rogue” operation in California’s Central Valley.

My new study finds these raids increased school absences by 22%—a leading indicator of the resulting family stress & lost learning opportunities👇

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/u...

Imagine proposing a system that would serve every kid in this country (no exceptions), fully fund 13 years of nearly year-round support, employ trained professionals to lead the work, and seek to produce a wide range of positive outcomes--from academic preparation to self-actualization.

We have it.

A Court Told Trump to Reverse Ed. Dept. Layoffs. Will It Happen? A judge ruled May 22 that the Trump administration had to reinstate laid-off Ed. Dept. staffers. They're still not back on the job.

A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to reinstate laid-off Education Department employees.

Two weeks later, multiple agency staffers say that hasn’t happened.

Essential reporting from @beeschultz3.bsky.social: www.edweek.org/policy-polit...

Yesterday, June 2, was an interesting day at work. I was reporting a story about how the Education Department hadn't delivered a report to Congress on the Condition of Education, despite the June 1 deadline mandated by law. 🧵 (1/9)

Students read few—or no—books in top ELA programs, survey finds Elementary students get little practice reading whole books in some of the country's most popular elementary reading curricula, shedding new light on national reading crisis

Would you believe that some of the most widely-used reading curricula in America incorporate no actual books? 🚩🚩🚩

I talked with @hollykorbey.bsky.social about the issue, and the work we are doing to illuminate the issue at the Curriculum Insight Project.

hollykorbey.substack.com/p/students-r...

Changes to SNAP Could Reduce Student Access to Free School Meals Free school meal access has become increasingly intertwined with federal social safety net programs—including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—to reduce duplicative paperwork for s...

Changes to SNAP Could Reduce Student Access to Free School Meals

www.urban.org/research/pub...

Yes, What We Pay Teachers Matters Paying teachers well is an essential part of a healthier public education system

It's Teacher Appreciation Week. Here's how to appreciate teachers: pay them better.